Birds Before The Storm

Thanks, Elevator!

Q: What’s the difference between boogers and tofurkey?
A: No one eats tofurkey.

thanks, Riot Joke!

from the ridiculously funny blog Hacked IRL.

And maybe a little bit scary.

From Infoshop News:

As if the state of South Carolina didn’t have enough of a reputation, recent legislation now requires subversive groups to register with the government. A registration fee of $5 and the necessary paper work is now required for all groups seeking to overthrow the government. The law states that “every member of a subversive organization, or an organization subject to foreign control, every foreign agent and every person who advocates, teaches, advises or practices the duty, necessity or propriety of controlling, conducting, seizing or overthrowing the government of the United States … shall register with the Secretary of State.”

here’s a bit of the law:

Every subversive organization and organization subject to foreign control shall register with the Secretary of State on forms prescribed by him within thirty days after coming into existence in this State.
…
Every member of a subversive organization, or an organization subject to foreign control, every foreign agent and every person who advocates, teaches, advises or practices the duty, necessity or propriety of controlling, conducting, seizing or overthrowing the government of the United States, of this State or of any political subdivision thereof by force or violence or other unlawful means, who resides, transacts any business or attempts to influence political action in this State, shall register with the Secretary of State on the forms and at the times prescribed by him.

where

(1) “Subversive organization” means every corporation, society, association, camp, group, bund, political party, assembly, body or organization, composed of two or more persons, which directly or indirectly advocates, advises, teaches or practices the duty, necessity or propriety of controlling, conducting, seizing or overthrowing the government of the United States, of this State or of any political subdivision thereof by force or violence or other unlawful means;

Download the form and register today!

(image from Toothpaste For Dinner).

Sometimes people make fun of anarchists in ways that I kind of just agree with. Not saying I’m anti-people or anything, but I’ve been a bit obsessed with Antarctica ever since I read the book of that name by Kim Stanley Robinson. Also, it’s a whole continent that isn’t actually run by a government. How neat! Just science, snow, and abominable snowmen. And airships, if you ask Stan.

What’s amazing how this distills the irrational hatred that lives inside of people. I’m only able to realize this because they use “comic sans” instead of “papyrus.” I’m a bit soft on comic sans, at least in contrast to my all-consuming hatred of the font papyrus.

When people find out that I’ve interviewed Derrick Jensen, I get a lot of different responses. From the anarchist scene, most of these are negative. “Oh, he’s not really an anarchist.” Well, I’ve talked to him at length about how he politically identifies in relation to anarchism, and published the results in Mythmakers. My new favorite now is “I heard he drives a hummer.” Which is about as ludicrous as it gets. Or that’s he’s like, super wealthy. Let me let you in on a little secret: being a respected author in a niche does not make you wealthy. He drives a pickup truck and lives outside a non-wealthy city. He’s also amazingly down-to-earth and friendly and—this is what he gets in trouble for, by and large—honest. He’ll actually tell you what he thinks of various things.

Do I agree with all of his politics? No. I agree with 90% of his analysis of problems and only maybe 20-30% of his suggested solutions. For one thing, I think that we could have a sustainable society with a degree of technology.

One thing about fame: lots and lots of people talk about Derrick Jensen as though they know him. When they say “I hate Derrick Jensen” or “I love Derrick Jensen,” they’re not really talking about a person, they’re talking about a collection of books and a perceived idea that is “Derrick Jensen.” They’re not talking about the reasonably humble man who knows that he will die if what he wants (industrial collapse) ever comes to pass.

But videos like this one above are why Derrick is so important. He’s incredibly funny and poignant and gets really radical ideas across outside of the anarchist niche.

From a livejournal thread. Click for more.

I don’t think that the US will actually be a first-world country much longer.

From Superpoop

I like this comic. I also like that the anti-fa is wearing a Red Emma’s tshirt, which is the best place in Baltimore.